Clean Lakes Campaign Kickoff

Lake Protection – It’s Everyone’s Job

Do you love a lake?  Do you want to know how to keep it clean?

Come hear inspiring speakers, play the Watershed Game, meet your fellow lake lovers and share exciting ideas for clean lake projects.

AWWA is hosting the Clean Lakes Campaign Kickoff on Saturday, June 11 from 9:00 AM to noon at the Wakefield Opera House to celebrate the precious lakes in the AWWA region –  Balch Lake, Belleau Lake, Great East Lake, Horn Pond, Lake Ivanhoe, Lovell Lake, Pine River Pond, Province Lake and Wilson Lake – and strategize how to keep them that way. Everyone who cares about clean water is encouraged to attend. Experts from both Maine and New Hampshire will be on hand to talk about issues that are threatening the health of our lakes and drinking water and offer solutions we can manage right here. You’ll have the opportunity to play the Watershed Game to learn ways we can each make a difference.  Each lake association in the AWWA region will go away with a tool kit to help them plan projects to protect their lake for now and generations to come.

Panelists include Jody Connor, NH Department of Environmental Services; LaMarr Clannon, Maine NEMO; Bob Craycraft, UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program; Andy Tolman, Maine CDC; and Keith Fletcher, Moose Mountains Regional Greenways.  Local businesses and community organizations will be on hand with displays and useful take home information so don’t miss this opportunity to learn about our water resources, what efforts are being done to protect them and ways you can make a difference.

Door prizes and refreshments are included in this free event.  Call (603) 473-2500 or email info@AWwatersheds.org to register.

Watershed Stakeholders Speak Up

Community members from Wakefield, NH and Acton, ME braved subzero temperatures on Friday, January 16^th to participate in a forum at the Wakefield Town Hall to share their thoughts about the pristine local water resources. The Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance organized the four-hour event as part of their project to develop a watershed-based management plan for the Salmon Falls River headwaters which includes the watersheds of Great East Lake, Horn Pond, Lake Ivanhoe, Lovell Lake and Wilson Lake. Each of these lakes or ponds lies in either Acton or Wakefield or straddles both.

Acton and Wakefield Planning Boards Cooperate to Strengthen Stormwater Management Strategies

Three dozen concerned citizens attended the Acton Wakefield Stormwater Management Project Kickoff Meeting on Tuesday, September 21 in the Opera House at the Wakefield Town Hall, 2 High St, Sanbornville, NH. Participants at the roundtable meeting discussed how the communities can control stormwater pollution to keep the lakes and ponds healthy for future generations and protect the local economy.

To maintain the high quality water status of the waterbodies in the Acton/Wakefield region, the Acton and Wakefield planning boards are working together to develop strategies for reducing pollution from stormwater runoff.Polluted runoff is generated during storms when precipitation moves through developed areas (parking lots, roads, buildings, etc.) and picks up contaminants such as bacteria, oils, and excess nutrients. Through smarter development approaches and improved stormwater treatment methods, much of this threat to local waterways can be addressed. Acton and Wakefield are convening a bi-town/state Stormwater Management Subcommittee with representatives from the town boards, lake associations, business community, land trusts and interested residents to work on this project effort.

As recommended in the Salmon Falls Headwater Lakes Watershed Management Plan, Acton and Wakefield have secured an $8,500 grant from the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) to pay for the consulting services of FB Environmental to provide expert science-based guidance on developing improved stormwater management policies and strategies. Improved stormwater management can be achieved through integrated and proactive land use planning standards for community development, as well as through the protection of natural areas.

Steering the meeting were LaMarr Clannon, Maine NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials); Forrest Bell, FB Environmental; Linda Schier, Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance; and Derek Sowers, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership.

Read the article in the September 30th edition of the Rochester Times

Watershed Plan Kickoff Brings Groups Together

The Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA) Kickoff meeting for the Watershed-based Management Plan for the headwaters of the Salmon Falls River on June 20, 2008 was attended by a wide range of stakeholders.

Speakers included Linda Schier, Executive Director of AWWA; Fred Dillon, consultant from FE Environmental Consulting; Sally Soule of NH Dept. of Environmental Services; Wendy Garland of ME Dept. of Environmental Protection; Adam Shoukimas, Technical Director for AWWA; and Carol Lafond, AWWA President.

Linda Schier welcomed the group and initiated introductions. Attendees represented the Great East Lake Improvement Association, the Lovell Lake Association, the Three Ponds Protective Association, Horn Pond, the Wilson Lake Association, the Town of Acton, the Town of Wakefield, the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program, the York County Soil & Water Conservation District and board members from AWWA. Linda also explained the history of AWWA and why they are enhancing their efforts to reduce the effects of pollution from stormwater runoff with their Youth Conservation Corps project and the new watershed-based management plan project for the headwaters of the Salmon Falls River.

Fred Dillon, from FB Environmental Consulting (FBE), explained how FBE will develop the plan using data collected from volunteer watershed surveys and water quality monitoring which will then be used with land-use modeling to explain present conditions and predict future conditions. Fred explained why phosphorus is the major contributor to lake pollution and how the plan will look at all contributing factors throughout the watersheds to define recommendations for ways to limit future phosphorus loading. Fred asked the attendees to share their concerns and hopes for the watershed plan which resulted in a lively discussion about stormwater issues throughout the watershed.

Sally Soule, NH DES project manager explained how the watershed-based management plan may be used by local town boards and other stakeholders to implement fixes for the identified problem areas and to plan for the increased development pressures expected in the region. She noted that the planning process must be completed before applications for grants to fix problems can be applied for.

Carol Lafond thanked the audience for attending and requested they show support for the project as volunteers or with a donation. AWWA is eager to hear from anyone interested in learning more about their projects and can be reached at 603-473-2500 or info@AWwatersheds.org.